Effect of Different Tannery Sludge Composts on the Production of Ryegrass: A Pot Experiment

Background: Tannery industry produces high amounts of nutrient rich sludges that can be used as organic fertilizers. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the fertilizing potential of composted tannery sludge. Methods: A pot experiment was carried out with ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) to test two different composts: 2.0 kg dry matter (DM) tannery fatty sludge + 1.5 kg DM sheep manure + 1.5 kg DM wheat straw (Compost 1) and 2.0 kg DM tannery sludge + 1.5 kg DM sheep manure + 1.5 kg DM wheat straw (Compost 2). Five treatments, with three replicates each, were assigned: Control (C); Compost 1 at 6 t (C1-6) and 12 t (C1-12) DM ha-1; Compost 2 at 6 t (C2-6) and 12 t (C2-12) DM ha-1. Each treatment was applied in a pot and mixed with 5 kg of sieved soil (<2 mm). Results: Results showed that production of DM ranged between 1.2 t DM ha-1 for C1-6 and 2.4 t DM ha-1 for C2-12. The highest B, Na and N levels in ryegrass was observed in C2-12, with 175 mg kg-1 DM, 9 g kg-1 DM and 30 g kg-1 DM, respectively. At the end of the experiment no differences were observed between treatments for C, N, P2O5, and K2O levels. Differences were observed at Zn level ranged between 101 mg kg-1 DM for C1-6 and 71 mg kg-1 DM for C2-12. Conclusion: The C2-12 treatment was the best because induces higher DM production and nutrients in ryegrass and without dangerous concentration of heavy metals in soil. Composted waste from the tannery industry is a good source of nutrients for agriculture.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Low adherence of Swiss children to national dietary guidelines.

INTRODUCTION: Dietary guidelines aim to inform people of the types of foods and quantities they should consume each day or week to promote and maintain health. The aim of this study was to describe children's dietary behaviors in terms of adherence to the Swiss Society for Nutrition (SSN) dietary guidelines and possible determinants. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in September 2010 with 568 children aged 6-12 years old living in Ticino Switzerland. Food intake was collected using 7-day food logs. Adherence with the dietary guidelines from the SSN was assessed according to age group. RESULTS: With the exception of fish and cereal/potato intake (adherence rates of 68.5% and 47.9%, respectively), adherence to SSN guidelines was low: 26.9% for meat; 22.7% for eggs; 10.4% for fruit; 9.5% for sweets, snacks &amp; soft drinks; 3.5% for milk &amp; dairy, and 0% for vegetables. Multivariate analysis showed no consistent association between the child or their parent's socio-demographic characteristics and adherence to SSN guidelines. Girls had a higher likelihood of adhering with fruit and meat guidelines: multivariate adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) 1.98 (1.10-3.56) and 1.80 (1.08-2.99), respectively. Children aged 10 to 12 had a lower likelihood of adhering with cereals and potatoes 0.48 (0.29-0.78), and a higher likelihood of adhering with the guideline for eggs 1.78 (1.00-3.15). CONCLUSION: Dietary intake of Ticinese children shows poor adherence with SSN guidelines. Given the lack of specific socio-demographic factors associated with adherence, population-wide interventions to improve dietary intake are necessary

Is it better at home with my family? The effects of people and place on children's eating behavior.

The people and places children eat with can influence food consumption. This study investigates the people and places Swiss school-aged children ate with over a 7-day period and analyses the effects of eating at home with family on food consumption. Children completed a 7-day food diary documenting the foods they consumed, the people with whom they ate, and the place where they ate. Analyses were conducted for all meals and included 9911 meal occasions. Most meals (80.5%) were consumed at home with family. Generalized estimating equations were used to model the effects of the home-family dyad on the child's chance of consuming a certain food while controlling for age, gender and BMI of the child, education, nationality and BMI of the parent. Compared to eating in other dyads (e.g. school-peers or restaurant-family), eating in the home-family dyad was associated with higher consumption of vegetables (+66% and +142% at weekday lunch and dinner and +180% and +67% at weekend lunch and dinner), lower consumption of sweets (-45% and -49% at weekday lunch and dinner; -43% and -49% at weekend lunch and dinner), and fewer soft drinks (-37% and -61% at weekday lunch and dinner; -66% and -78% at weekend lunch and dinner). This study shows the positive influence of eating at home with the family on food consumption in a sample of Swiss children. Interventions and policies that encourage children and parents to eat together at home could serve as effective prevention against a poor diet

Evaluation of Tomato-Based Packing Material for Retention of Ammonia, Nitrous Oxide, Carbon Dioxide and Methane in Gas Phase Biofilters: A Laboratory Study

Biofilters are an effective air pollution control technology to break down gaseous contaminants and produce innocuous end products. This laboratory study aimed to evaluate a biofilter media, mainly composed by tomato waste, as packing material to reduce NH3, N2O, CO2 and CH4 losses from stored pig slurry. Three mixtures of packing materials, with and without oxalic acid, were arranged in treatments, namely: mixture of tomato waste, pine bark and agricultural compost; mixture of tomato waste and rice husk; tomato waste only. A control treatment (no biofilter) was also included. The experiments were conducted using a system of laboratory scale biofilters connected to jars filled with pig slurry and under a constant airflow rate. The gas concentrations were measured for 14 days and the physicochemical of the packing materials were assessed. Results showed that biofilter media mixtures had a potential for NH3 retention ranging from 51 to 77% and the addition of oxalic acid to these biofilters increased NH3 retention to 72–79%. Additionally, the biofilter media mixtures with and without oxalic acid showed a potential retention for CH4 (29–69%) but not for N2O, yet with no impact on the global warming potential. It can be concluded that tomato based biofilters had the potential to reduce gaseous emissions from slurry.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mitigating Ammonia and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Stored Pig Slurry Using Chemical Additives and Biochars

Slurry storage is a significant source of NH3 and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The aim of this laboratory study was to assess the effects of different chemical additives and biochars on the emissions of NH3, N2O, CO2, and CH4 during the short-term storage of pig slurry. The experiment was performed using Kilner jars filled with raw slurry as control and six treatment additives (5% w/w): acidified slurry, alkalinized slurry, neutralized slurry, agroforestry biochar, cardoon biochar, and elderberry biochar. The gas emissions were measured for 30 days, and the composition of the slurries was determined. During short-term storage, the results of this laboratory study indicated that the NH3 emissions were reduced by 58% by acidification and by 20% by the biochars (Agroforestry, Cardoon, and Elderberry treatments), while neutralization reduced this loss by only 12%. Nitrous oxide emissions were not reduced by the chemical additives (Acidified, Alkalinized, and Neutralized treatments), while this loss was increased by 12% by the biochars. Carbon dioxide, CH4, and global warming potential emissions were not affected by the chemical additives and biochars. Furthermore, the absence of differences between the biochars may be related to their similar composition. Regarding the influence of the studied additives on NH3 losses, it can be concluded that acidification was the best mitigation measure and the biochars were quite similar due to their composition. Furthermore, neutralization had the advantage of sanitizing the slurry, but only had a mild impact on NH3 preservation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

I did eat my vegetables. Agreement between parent and child food intake diaries.

To assess the level of agreement between children and their parents when reporting a child's food consumption. Cross-sectional study in which children and parents independently completed 7 d food diaries describing the foods and drinks the child consumed at every meal and snack. The association between child and parent reporting was assessed for nineteen food groups using Kendall's tau-b non-parametric correlations, Spearman's rank correlations, kappa coefficients and Lin's concordance measure of agreement. Results were also stratified by gender of the child and his/her grade at school. Households in Ticino, Switzerland, April-June 2014. Two hundred and ninety-nine children aged 6-12 years and one of their parents participated, with 264 providing complete data (35 % completion rate). Results showed a high level of agreement between child and parent reporting. Spearman correlations ranged from 0·55 (sauces) and 0·57 (fatty meat) to 0·80 (fruit), 0·83 (starchy foods) and 0·84 (pastries). All nineteen Spearman correlations were significant at the 0·001 level. Kendall's tau-b correlations ranged from 0·44 (fat meat) to 0·81 (puff pastry). Kappa values showed low to high levels of agreement, ranging from 0·15 (sweets) to 0·77 (puff pastry). Lin's concordance correlation coefficients ranged from 0·39 (whole grains) to 0·86 (puff pastry). When assessing the eating behaviour of children using a 7 d food diary, children's reports might be as reliable as their parents'

Does additional support provided through e-mail or SMS in a Web-based Social Marketing program improve children's food consumption? A Randomized Controlled Trial.

The FAN Social Marketing program was developed to improve dietary and physical activity habits of families with children in Ticino, Switzerland. The aim of this study was to examine if the effects of the program on children's food intake differed by intervention group. Effects of the FAN program were tested through a Randomized Controlled Trial. The program lasted 8 weeks, during which participants received tailored communication about nutrition and physical activity. Families were randomly allocated to one of three groups, where the parent received the intervention by the Web (G1), Web + e-mail (G2) or Web + SMS (G3). Children in all groups received tailored print letters by post. Children's food consumption was assessed at baseline and immediate post intervention using a 7-day food diary. Generalized linear mixed models with child as a random effect and with time, treatment group, and the time by treatment interaction as fixed effects were used to test the impact of the intervention. Analyses were conducted with a sample of 608 children. After participating in FAN the marginal means of daily consumption of fruit changed from 0.95 to 1.12 in G1, from 0.82 to 0.94 in G2, and from 0.93 to 1.18 in G3. The margins of the daily consumption of sweets decreased in each group (1.67 to 1.56 in G1, 1.71 to 1.49 in G2, and 1.72 to 1.62 in G3). The change in vegetable consumption observed from pre to post intervention in G3 (from 1.13 to 1.21) was significantly different from that observed in G1 (from 1.21 to 1.17). A well-designed Web-based Social Marketing intervention complemented with print letters can help improve children's consumption of water, fruit, soft drinks, and sweets. The use of SMS to support greater behavior change, in addition to Web-based communication, resulted only in a small significant positive change for vegetables, while the use of e-mail in addition to Web did not result in any significant difference. The trial was retrospectively registered in the ISRCTN registry (ID ISRCTN48730279 )

Production of live larvae following in vitro maturation of zebrafish oocytes.

This study aimed to assess the effects of carp pituitary extract (CPE), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) on zebrafish oocyte maturation and the ability of these mature oocytes to be fertilized and developed until hatching. Stage III follicles were matured in eight treatments: five concentrations of CPE (16, 32, 48, 64 and 80 μg/mL), one of FSH (0.5 μg/mL), one of LH (0.5 μg/mL), or one combination of FSH (0.5 μg/mL) and LH (0.5 μg/mL). Maturation rates in CPE treatments were 12.8% (16 μg/mL), 24.8% (32 μg/mL), 27.0% (48 μg/mL), 22.7% (64 μg/mL) and 9.6% (80 μg/mL); in FSH was 15.7% (0.5 μg/mL), in LH was 31.8% (0.5 μg/mL) and in FSH (0.5 μg/mL) combined with LH (0.5 μg/mL) it was 50.4%. In vitro fertilization was performed in all treatments; however, only the treatment combining FSH and LH resulted in fertilized oocytes. After maturation using FSH combined with LH, the cleavage rate was 33.3% and hatching rate of live larvae was 20.0%. These results showed that FSH combined with LH was effective in IVM of zebrafish oocyte

Validity And Reliability Of A Self-efficacy Expectancy Scale For Adherence To Antiretroviral Therapy For Parents And Carers Of Children And Adolescents With Hiv/aids [validação E Reprodutibilidade De Uma Escala De Auto-eficácia Para Adesão Ao Tratamento Anti-retroviral Em Pais Ou Cuidadores De Crianças E Adolescentes Vivendo Com Hiv/aids]

Objective: To validate and evaluate the reproducibility of a self-efficacy (SE) scale for adherence to antiretroviral therapy in children and adolescents with HIV/AIDS, taking into account the perspective of parents/guardians. Methods: The study was carried out at the Hospital-Dia, Centro de Referência e Treinamento em DST/AIDS (CRT/SP), in São Paulo, Brazil. The parents/guardians of 54 children and adolescents aged 6 months to 20 years were interviewed during routine consultations at our service. Data on SE were collected using the Self-Efficacy for Following Anti-Retroviral Prescription Scale, and SE scores were calculated in two different ways: factor analysis and a predefined formula. The scale's internal consistency was verified using Cronbach's α coefficient. Validity was tested by comparing the mean scores of a group of patients who did adhere to antiretroviral treatment with those of a group that did not (Mann-Whitney test) and by calculating the Spearman correlation coefficient for agreement between scores and clinical parameters. Reproducibility was verified using the Wilcoxon test, intraclass correlation coefficients (ricc) and Bland-Altman plots. Results: The SE scale demonstrated good internal consistency (α = 0.87) and good reproducibility (r icc = 0.69 and r icc = 0.75). In terms of validity, the SE scale was capable of differentiating adherent patients from those who did not adhere to their antiretroviral treatment (p = 0.002) and exhibited a significant correlation with CD4 counts (r = 0.28; p = 0.04). Conclusions: The SE scale can be used to assess adherence to antiretroviral therapy in children and adolescents with HIV/AIDS, taking into account the perspective of parents/carers. Copyright © 2008 by Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria.8414146Matida, L.H., da Silva, M.H., Tayra, A., Succi, R.C., Gianna, M.C., Gonçalves, A., Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in São Paulo State, Brazil: An update (2005) AIDS, 19 (SUPPL. 4), pp. S37-S41Gibb, D.M., Goodall, R.L., Giacomet, V., McGee, L., Compagnucci, A., Lyall, H., Paediatric European Network for Treatment of Aids Steering Committee. Adherence to prescribed antiretroviral therapy in human immunodeficiency virus-infected children in the PENTA 5 trial (2003) Pediatr Infect Dis J, 22, pp. 56-62Pluciennik, A.M., (2003) Transmissão materno infantil do vírus da imunodeficiência humana adquirida: Quanto custa não prevenir [tese], , São Paulo: Faculdade de Saúde Pública da USP;Dyke, R.B.V., Lee, S., Johnson, G.M., Wiznia, A., Mohan, K., Stanley, K., Reported adherence as a determinant of response to highly active antiretroviral therapy in children who have human immunodeficiency virus infection (2002) Pediatrics, 109 (4), pp. 1-7Starace, F., Massa, A., Amico, K.R., Fisher, J.D., Adherence to antiretroviral therapy: An empirical test of the information-motivation-behavioral skills model (2006) Health Psychol, 25, pp. 153-162Shah, C.A., Adherence to high activity antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in pediatric patients infected with HIV: Issues and interventions (2007) Indian J Pediatr, 74, pp. 55-60Leite, J.C., Drachler, M.L., Centeno, M.O., Pinheiro, C.A., Silveira, V.L., Desenvolvimento de uma escala de auto-eficácia para adesão ao tratamento anti-retroviral. (2002) Psicol Reflex Crit, 15, pp. 121-133Bandura, A., Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change (1977) Psychol Rev, 84, pp. 191-215Gortmaker SL, Lenderking WR, Clark C, Lee S, Fowler MG, Oleske JMThe ACTG 219 Team. Development and use of a pediatric quality of life questionnaire in AIDS clinical trials: reliability and validity of the general health assessment for children. In: Drotar D. Measuring health-related quality of life in children and adolescents: implications for research and practice. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates1998. p. 219-35Eiser, C., Morse, R., Quality-of-life measures in chronic diseases of childhood (2001) Health Technol Assess, 5, pp. 1-95Streiner, D.L., Norman, G.R., (2003) Health measurement scales: A practical guide to their development and use, , 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press;Drotar D, Levi R. Critical issues and needs in health-related quality of life assessment of children and adolescents with chronic health condition. In: Drotar D. Measuring health-related quality of life in children and adolescents: implications for research and practice. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates1998. p. 3-2